1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a sliding rod locking device for locking a cabinet door of a switchgear cabinet, having a handle, to which an actuating mechanism is connected via an actuating mechanism, wherein the handle can be adjusted in a pivot plane extending vertically with respect to the plane of the cabinet door, and by displacement of the handle, the actuating member can be displaced parallel with respect to the plane of the cabinet door.
2. Description of Related Art
A sliding rod lock used for locking emergency exit doors is known from German Patent Reference DE 77 23 134. A handle is seated, pivotal around a horizontal axis, in a housing. The handle has a manipulating device facing the user on the front of the housing. A lever is formed on the handle remote from the manipulating device. An actuating member is connected to the lever and is linearly displaceable in the housing. The actuating member has teeth, which mesh with a gear wheel. A second actuating member also has teeth, which also engage with the gear wheel.
The lever is deflected by an actuation of the manipulating device, and with it the first actuating member is displaced. During this the gear wheel is also turned, and the second actuating member is displaced in the opposite direction with respect to the first direction. In order to achieve the required closing forces with such a sliding rod locking device, the lever must be of an appropriate size. But this causes the sliding rod locking device to have a structural size which is interfering when used with a switchgear cabinet.
It is one object of the invention to provide a sliding rod locking device of the type mentioned above but with a small structural size and by which it is possible to simultaneously generate large locking forces.
Such object of this invention is attained with a lever hinged on a hinge of the handle at a distance away from the pivot shaft, by which the force introduced into the handle can be transferred to the actuating member and which changes its angular position when the handle is displaced.
An effective force transfer can occur at the lever mechanism in accordance with this invention, so that large locking forces can be generated. The lever can be designed as a toggle lever, which creates a force amplification with increasing pivoting. This makes it possible to overcome the oppositely acting sealing pressure when the cabinet door is closed. In the pivoted-in condition of the handle, the position of the movable lever can be adjusted so that it has only a slight effect on the structural size of the sliding-rod locking device.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of this invention, the handle is connected with its pivot shaft on the actuating member, and the lever is pivotally fastened by an area remote from the hinge on a housing, which can be fixed in place on the cabinet door.
Alternatively, the handle can be connected with its pivot shaft on the housing, and the lever is pivotally fastened on the actuating member at its area remote from the hinge. In one embodiment of this invention, a first sliding unit can be displaced in a first direction via the lever. A further lever is connected to the handle, which displaces a second sliding unit in a direction opposite the first sliding unit. In this case the levers are preferably hinged to the handle so that sliding forces of equal size can be generated via the two sliding units.
For easier manipulation, the handle can be maintained on the housing prestressed in a direction counter to the pivoting direction by a restoring spring. Thus the handle always is urged in the pivoted-out position.
In the pivoted-in condition the handle is preferably fixed in place in a handle recess of the housing, so that it is received in a space-saving manner. The handle can have a snap-in shoulder for locking, which is maintained in a snap-in receiver of a bolt, wherein the bolt is displaceably maintained in the housing. The bolt itself is connected via a transfer element to a lock, wherein it can be displaced via the transfer element by the lock, so that the snap-in receiver disengages with the snap-in shoulder and releases the handle. Actuation of the handle is only possible if the bolt is released via the lock. Thus the switchgear cabinet is dependably secured against unauthorized access.
In accordance with this invention, the housing can be fastened to the front of the cabinet door and receive the linearly displaceable actuating member. The actuating member is connected by one or several retainers through one or several openings of the cabinet door to a sliding rod arranged on the back of the cabinet door. Since only the sliding rod is arranged on the back of the door, the sliding rod locking device can also be used, if restricted space conditions prevail in the locking area.
In this case the sliding rod can be designed as a profiled angle section, which is guided by one profiled leg on the back of the cabinet door and which extends with its second profiled leg that runs at a right angle with respect to the first profiled leg, along a vertically extending, bent-off edge of the cabinet door. A sliding rod designed in this way requires only little space and thus takes restricted spatial conditions into consideration.